London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

The decision by former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby to resign his knighthood is encouraging testimony to the power of shame. Crosby, head of HBOS from 2001-06, was heavily criticised in last week’s damning Banking Standards Commission’s report: it called him the “architect” of the disastrous strategy of reckless lending which brought the bank to its knees. Crosby’s gesture, and his forgoing of 30 per cent of his pension and resignation from the board of Compass, proves that such public shaming can have a salutary effect.

Not all those responsible for the financial crisis have taken the hint in this way. Crosby’s successor at HBOS, Andy Hornby, remains in his job as chief executive of Coral. The report called for Crosby, Hornby and former HBOS chairman Lord Stevenson to be banned from working in banking. Moreover, the financial damage inflicted by their actions and those of others remains — not only in a fragile economy but in the £20 million bailout shouldered by taxpayers after Lloyds’ takeover of HBOS in September 2008 failed to save the bank. By contrast, figures such as Crosby have come out of the debacle financially comfortable: he will still enjoy pension payments of more than £400,000 a year.

The value of last week’s parliamentary report is that it pinpoints responsibility for the crisis, blaming both individuals and practices in banking — thereby emphasising the more prudent course that the industry must now take. Condemning all bankers is counter-productive: London and the British economy badly need our banks to flourish. But that will not happen while the kinds of practices that Crosby championed survive. His shaming, and the forensic detail of last week’s report, are to be welcomed.

Heathrow warning

Willie Walsh’s warning over the future of Heathrow is just the latest from the boss of International Airlines Group, owner of BA, but it highlights the continued uncertainty over the future of the South-East’s airport capacity. Walsh says that Heathrow could fall from the world’s top five busiest airports within 10 years — and from the top 30 within 20 years — because of the Government’s failure to allow a third runway there. In truth, a third runway at Heathrow would only be a stop-gap: it would not, on its own, make much long-term difference to the UK’s aviation position. But the prospect he raises of the UK being left behind as other countries develop better hub airports is real.

The answer, for the moment, lies with Sir Howard Davies’s Airports Commission, set up by ministers last year to examine options for airport expansion. But whether the Commission recommends building more capacity at an existing airport or a new one in the Thames estuary, as preferred by the Mayor, its timetable remains frustratingly slow. The Commission’s final report will not appear until after the next election in 2015. Meanwhile, Heathrow’s shortcomings remain glaring compared with competitors in Europe. We need a decision sooner to avoid the scenario that Walsh sketches.

Hytner’s National

Today's announcement by National Theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner that he will step down in 2015 heralds the end of an era. In his decade at the National’s helm, Sir Nicholas has been a visionary leader, proving that it is possible to take risks and put on demanding works while still pulling in huge audiences. It has been a golden age for the National; he will be a tough act to follow.